The Blues head to Newcastle to kick-off the European Challenge Cup against the Falcons at Kingston Park on Friday night and are joined in that tournament by the Ospreys, who host Castres Olympique at the Liberty Stadium on Saturday.
The Dragons are back in the Heineken Champions Cup for the first time since the 2010-11 season and open against one of the teams they met in their last campaign, Wasps.
The English Premiership runners-up head to Rodney Parade on Saturday while earlier on the same day the Scarlets will play their 150th game in the tournament when they take on Bath at The Recreation Ground.
There is a new look to the two tournaments for this COVID-19-hit season and it is less than two months since Exeter Chiefs became the 12th team to win the top title in northern hemisphere club rugby.
They launch their title defence at home against Glasgow Warriors on Sunday in an expanded 24-team campaign that will include home and away quarter-finals for the first time after a round of only four pool matches.
“The knock-out rounds of the last Heineken Champions Cup season provided arguably the highest quality rugby anywhere in 2020 so far. Whilst our new tournament format owes much to pragmatism and expediency, it guarantees us some thrilling action in the December and January rounds,” said EPCR chairman, Simon Halliday.
“Europe’s heavyweight clubs must be at the top of their game to extend their stay into the spring and they’ll be entertaining fans worldwide with unprecedented global access to the matches on a range of traditional and OTT providers.”
More than 38 million fans watched last season’s action in the UK, Ireland and France alone, which was a rise of 53 per cent on the previous season. The addition of epcrugby.tv to the coverage produced by BT Sport, Channel 4, Virgin Media, S4C, beIN SPORTS, France Télévisions and Sky Italia means that the Heineken Champions Cup is now available all season in territories where no rights agreement is in place courtesy of a direct-to-consumer online service.
“We have been able to enjoy high-level sport during the pandemic thanks to the exceptional work of the broadcasters,” Halliday added.
“Notwithstanding that, we are still looking forward to the return of fans as soon as it is deemed safe by local authorities where our matches are played. The fans bring much of the colour, passion and diversity that are the lifeblood of the tournament.
“That said, the safety of all concerned, including the players, is our responsibility too. We believe we have some of the world’s best match officials operating in our tournaments and by adhering to the laws, they will be making their own contribution to player welfare.
“We also know that an already congested fixture calendar is a challenge for everyone and we have allowed clubs to register an unlimited number of players in their tournament squads.”
The European Rugby Challenge Cup also has a modified format for the 2020/21 season with 14 clubs playing four matches each in a preliminary stage following which, the top eight clubs will qualify for an expanded knockout stage where they will be joined by the clubs finishing between fifth and eighth in each Heineken Champions Cup pool.
